Charlotte Preston

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Charlotte Preston

Charlotte Preston is a Certified Somatic Experiencing® therapist based in Dorset, UK, working with adults, teenagers and groups.

She specialises in somatic approaches: Somatic Experiencing trauma therapy, bodywork & movement practices. I offer embodied movement group classes & one-to-one somatic therapy, online and in-person in Poole, Dorset, UK. I work with yoga, qigong, somatic movement, reiki, massage therapy and I'm currently training in Somatic Experiencing.

30/03/2026

There's a version of healing that tells us to calm down, soften, and let go of anger… to choose peace instead. This message can be so harmful and shaming! Read the post to explore why, if this sparks your curiosity.

When we’ve experienced complex trauma, anger isn’t the problem.

It’s often a very appropriate, protective response to what we’ve lived through. The part of us that recognised something wasn’t right, that a boundary was crossed.

And if that anger wasn’t safe to express at the time, it doesn’t just disappear. It gets held in the body, turned inward, or replaced with shame and collapse.

So healing isn’t about getting rid of anger.
It’s about gradually building the capacity to feel it, to understand it, and to let it move in a way that doesn’t overwhelm us.

Over time, this brings not just more calm, but more connection with ourselves, our needs, and our boundaries.

If you're exploring reclaiming your anger, I see you. 🧡

You can find more about my specialist somatic work for complex trauma recovery via the link at the top of my page.

27/03/2026

Learning to regulate your emotions isn’t just about calming down.

It’s about learning how to be with what you feel, and allowing it to move, gradually, in a way that feels safe.

For many of us, especially if we’ve experienced trauma, we learned to survive by pushing feelings down.

By disconnecting, getting on with things and not having the space to feel what was actually there.

That wasn’t a mistake, it an intelligent adaptation.

But over time, what helped you survive can start to feel limiting.

You might notice:
a tightness in your chest
waves of fear or anxiety
anger that feels unfamiliar or overwhelming
a sense of disconnection from yourself

These aren’t signs that something is wrong.

They’re often signs that your system is beginning to have more capacity to feel.

And this is where the work begins.

Not by forcing anything out.
Not by trying to fix what’s there.

But by learning how to be with what’s here
— little by little
— at a pace that doesn’t overwhelm you

This is what real regulation looks like.

Not suppressing…
but creating space for your experience, and staying with yourself inside it.

—

If you’d like support with this, you can find more details about my specialist work in trauma and complex trauma recovery (using a somatic approach) via the link at the top of my page.

26/03/2026

When you’ve spent a long time suppressing how you feel,
your body can start to experience even simple sensations as unsafe : like an increased heart rate, a tightness in your chest, a wave of emotion.

All can all register as something being wrong.

Not because they are, but because your system learned that feeling wasn’t safe.

You might have been told (even in a well-meaning way) 'dont cry, you're fine'. Or you learned in other ways that connecting with and expressing how you feel wasn't safe or wouldn't be met in a helpful way.

So when emotion and sensation comes up now, it can feel unfamiliar, intense or even alarming.

This is something I see when working with people over a period of time (and I've experienced myself as I began with somatic work).

As we begin to reconnect with our bodies, instead of relief, there can be confusion, or even fear.

“What is this?”
“Why does this feel like too much?”

This is likely reconnecting with your body, and learning to sense and feel again. The experience can be surprisingly intense!

Over time, and with the right support
we can begin to gently build our capacity and okayness with these sensations.

Touching into sensation
and then allowing space for it to settle

Again and again

Until your body starts to register that this can be felt
and I am still safe.

—

If you’d like to begin exploring this in a supportive space,
I host a monthly free online session called Gather and Ground

A place to slow down, reconnect, and gently build capacity in your system

The next one is:
Tuesday 6th April 2026
6–7:30pm (UK time) online

Comment “Gather” below or sign up through the link in my bio

Charlotte x

25/03/2026

Sometimes your body reacts as if something is wrong,
even when nothing is, and nothing threatening is actually happening in the present moment.

This might be because your nervous system has learned to associate certain sensations with danger.

Like an increased heart rate. Thus can bring a feeling of urgency, or even panic.

Intense sensations can start to feel unsafe when your nervous system has spent a long time in survival.

This is something I see often, or hear often, when I'm working with people.

Over time, we can begin to gently explore these sensations, in a way that doesn’t overwhelm the system.

We begin to touch into activation, and then give space to settle.

For example, noticing the sensations of an elevated heart rate, and then giving time for the heart rate to settle again.
We contact short amounts of time in activation before allowing settling again.

Gradually, your body often starts to register:
this feeling can be experienced without something bad happening.

And from there, something begins to shift : you might still feel activated, it doesn't feel like danger.

That distinction is where more choice starts to come in

—

If this resonates, you’re not alone in it
and it’s something that can change over time

Charlotte x

24/03/2026

If you're on a journey of allowing your body to soften when you're not actually in crisis... I'm with you. After a lifetime of vigilance, this can take some practice over time. 🧡🐾

Cats are great teachers. Bailey models this for us here.

17/03/2026

I’m so excited to finally share this with you.

Are you feeling the call for a little adventure… just for yourself?

I often share photos from where I live here in Canford Cliffs, Dorset - the beach, the trees, the changing light - and people often ask where it is. It really is such a special place.

This retreat feels like a chance to open that up and share it with you.

A weekend to slow down, move, breathe, and spend time in nature. To reconnect with your body, and to remember what it feels like to be part of something - in community, in the natural world, and in yourself.

We’ll be a small group of 16, which means there’s space to keep things well paced, supported, and personal.

There are currently 8 spaces remaining.

Early booking is available until 15th April (£325)
After that, the full retreat price will be £450

If it’s been a while since you’ve taken time like this for yourself, this might be your moment.

You can find all the details via the link in my bio, or comment “retreat” below and I’ll send everything over to you.

We'd love to welcome you here 🤍

16/03/2026

Mother’s Day holds many different experiences. 💙

If your experience was a hard, confusing or ambiguous one, I see you.

For some it is joyful and celebratory.

For others it can bring grief, complicated family histories, estrangement, or the quiet ache of what was never received.

Some peopl were raised by mothers who were harmful or emotionally unavailable.
Some became the cycle breakers.
Learning how to mother differently without ever having been mothered safely themselves.

Others are building meaningful, fulfilling lives that do not include children.

All of these paths deserve recognition and care.

Something we also know from psychology is that our bodies sometimes respond to meaningful dates, even when we are not consciously thinking about them. This is sometimes called an “anniversary reaction.”

You might notice feeling more tired, sensitive, foggy headed, or experiencing aches in the body. Nothing is wrong with you. Your nervous system may simply be responding to a meaningful day.

If today has felt tender for you, I hope you can offer yourself a little extra gentleness.

You deserve that care too. 💛

See the link at the top of my page for ways we can work together, including one to one specialist sessions in trauma and complex trauma recovery.

13/03/2026

I have to remind myself of this one, too.

I'm feeling more these days, and sometimes that can be intense!

I'm also noticing that I'm feeling more and staying present with it because I'm dissociating less, and meeting my experience differently... with more acceptance, and compassion.

I think there can be a common notion that healing means we eventually stop getting triggered, or being emotional, or the difficult reactions simply disappear.

But that isn't what growth actually looks like. In my experience, our triggers and our experiences can become less overwhelming, as we begin to meet them in new ways, with more presence and less shame.

Growth is when we stop shaming ourselves for having emotions in the first place.

It is when we learn to turn towards our experience with curiosity instead of criticism, and we begin to meet our reactions with compassion rather than trying to fix or eliminate them.

Maybe we don't reach some final growth stage of 'healed' but this is life long work, we're growing a new way of being, of meeting ourselves.

It is about developing a different relationship with yourself : with your emotions, nervous system and with the younger parts of you who learned how to survive stress, chaos and difficult experiences.

As that relationship with yourself deepens, something else can shift. You may still feel activation, sadness, anger, or overwhelm.

But you're no longer abandoning yourself inside those moments. You're learning how to stay.

And that is where real capacity begins to grow.
As we gradually learn how to be with our experiences, rather than pushing them away.

Have you noticed any moments lately, maybe hard or intense moments, that you were still present with yourself? Even in the intensity, you rode the wave?

💙

09/03/2026

Have you ever had that experience? When we get started, we realise the anticipation was far more intense.

Our minds fill in the gaps with imagined outcomes, worst-case scenarios, and stories about what might happen.

Often, when we begun, the fear that once felt so large can shift into something else... effort, discomfort, or vulnerability in showing up.

In somatic work, we explore something called capacity.

Capacity is the nervous system’s ability to stay present with experience - sensations, emotions, and intensity - without becoming overwhelmed or shutting down. Somatic Experiencing helps us to expand our capacity, for both our inner experience, and also for life.

When our capacity is small, even everyday challenges can feel like too much. Our life shrinks, as we reduce the stressors and the activities of our life.

But as we gradually build regulation and safety in the body, our capacity expands. We become able to stay with more of life : more feeling, more uncertainty, but also more aliveness.

And when that happens, something opens... we can step back into the playground of our lives. And our lives really are what this work is about, not healing for healings sake.

Real change happens in the lived moments of trying, experimenting, and discovering what we’re actually capable of. 🧡

05/03/2026

Many people arrive at this work after trying to think their way out of stress, anxiety, or trauma.

Somatic therapy offers another doorway.

Instead of only working with thoughts, we begin to listen to the body.

Over time, this can help the nervous system rediscover safety, regulation, and connection.

I’ve been working in body-mind healing for over twenty years, and it continues to be one of the most profound paths I’ve encountered.

If you’re curious about this work, you’re very welcome here.

Charlotte x

24/02/2026

So many late-diagnosed ADHD adults come into my therapy space carrying years of shame.

Thinking they’re lazy, too sensitive or simply bad at life.
“High functioning but somehow always exhausted.”

What I see instead is nervous systems that adapted to environments that didn’t meet them and brains that learned to survive in systems not designed for them.
Bodies that hit capacity, not failure.

ADHD isn’t just about focus.
It’s about sensory overwhelm, cognitive load, emotional processing. And grief.

And the deep wisdom of coping strategies that once kept you going.

When we understand ADHD through the body and nervous system, we can often find a lot more compassion, and begin to feel relief.

And with the right understanding and support, life can feel so much gentler.

💬 Comment “ADHD” and I’ll send details of the specialist one-to-one therapy I offer to support trauma, CPTSD and ADHD.

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Wood Green

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https://charlotte-preston.com/

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